Eugenia is a playwright and director with a professional background clinical social work and sociodrama and an unrelenting curiosity about the capacity for theatre to engage, transform, and define community. Eugenia’s plays and monologues have been produced in New York, Portland, Phoenix, and Tucson, AZ. Her most recent full-length play, Krishna’s Folly, also directed by Ward, was included in Portland’s 2009 Fertile Ground Festival. Eugenia worked as Dramaturg in the development of Tim Stapleton’s Leaning on The Everlasting Arms and later went on to direct the piece at IFCC in Portland. She has also produced/directed for Portland TheatreWorks (InsomniActs), Portland Center Stage JAW (The Lost Boy), and various independent producers of new work. Before her relocation from Tucson to Portland in 2007, she produced and directed projects such as the First Words: Relativity Festival (new plays on LGBT family life) in 2006 and the Best of Tucson award-winning, The Last Days of Judas Iscariot, in 2007. She holds a B.S. in Broadcasting and Film from Boston University and an M.S. in Clinical Social Work from Columbia University. Eugenia is a founding member of Playwrights West, a Portland-based theatre company focusing on the development and production of new work.

MEGAN KATE WARD, Director

Megan Kate Ward is currently developing Famished, a new work by Eugenia Woods for Portland Playhouse’s 2012 season, and has previously directed and developed Krishna’s Folly also by Woods. Other directing credits include Fool For Love by Sam Shepard for CoHo Productions, 99 Ways to Fuck a Swan by Kim Rosentstock for Theatre Vertigo, and My Name is Rachel Corrie for Three Good Friends. With her company, The David Mamet School for Boys, she has produced and directed Dutchman by LeRoi Jones and the world premiere of The Bullet Round by Steven Drukman. She was an assistant director at Portland Center Stage for Kip Fagan (world premiere of Futura by Jordan Harrison), Nancy Keystone (The 39 Steps) and Rose Riordan (The Thugs by Adam Bock and The Pillowman). Also for Portland Center Stage she was the dramaturg for the American premiere of How to Disappear Completely and Never be Found by Finn Kennedy. As the Artistic/Literary Assistant for three years at Portland Center Stage, she also served as a festival producer for JAW; a Playwrights Festival and founded, produced, and directed PCS’s monthly reading series, Now Hear This. She holds a BA (Honors) in Theatre, with an emphasis in directing from Goldsmiths College, University of London.

MEAD HUNTER, Dramaturg

Mead Hunter began his theater career as playwright-in-residence for the legendary Storefront Actors’ Theatre of Portland, Oregon. He holds an MFA in Dramaturgy and Dramatic Criticism from Yale University and a PhD in Critical Studies from UCLA. He has taught performance history and text analysis at UCLA, UC San Diego, and the California Institute of the Arts. He guest lectures on contemporary theater at institutions around the United States, and frequently consults for various arts service organizations. Previously he was the Director of Literary Programs for A.S.K. Theater Projects in Los Angeles, where he commissioned many new plays and curated an annual festival of ensemble-generated performance called Common Ground. He was also the Literary & Education Director for Portland Center Stage, where he served as dramaturg on the world premiere productions of Outrage, Celebrity Row, Another Fine Mess, O Lovely Glowworm and Sometimes a Great Notion, among many other plays, and served as the main curator for JAW: A Playwrights Festival, PCS’s annual celebration of original playwriting. Currently he serves on the Artistic Council of CoHo Productions and Literary Arts’ Advisory Committee. He is Editor-in-Chief of SuperScript Editorial Services, LLC, a writer’s resource.

TIM STAPLETON, Designer

Tim Stapleton, a multi-disciplinary artist originally from Letcher County Kentucky, lives in Portland, Oregon. A theatrical designer with an MFA in Creative Inquiry, Tim has four Drammy awards from the Portland Area Theatre Alliance for his stage designs, and a Fellowship from The National Endowment for the Arts. His paintings have been exhibited at The California Institute of Integral Studies, in Kyoto, Japan, and with the Kentucky Arts Commission. Currently he is an Associate Professor at Lewis & Clark College.

LAURA FAYE SMITH, Improvisation Director

Laura Faye Smith has previously appeared at PCS in Pride and Prejudice, The Thugs, How to Disappear Completely and Never Be Found, Frost/Nixon, A Christmas Carol, The Receptionist and JAW in 2008-2010. Other productions in the Portland area include Mr. Marmalade at Artists Repertory Theatre, The Receptionist, Boy Gets Girl and Spinning Into Butter at Coho, The Heiress andBash at Triangle! Productions; Charlotte’s Web, The BFG, and Cyrano at Oregon Children’s Theatre; King Lear at Tygres Heart; and The Trip to Bountiful andUncommon Women at Profile Theatre. She won a 2005 Drammy for her work inThe Heiress, and a 2010 Drammy for The Trip to Bountiful. Her television credits include TNT’s Leverage, and her voice over work includes voices for the video game This Is Vegas, Dungeon Siege 2, and the animated series Ruby Rocket.

MICHAEL CLINE, Billy in the Workshop/Lab

Michael is 13 years old and attends 7th grade in Southwest Portland. Previously, he has appeared as Ralphiein both the Portland Center Stage and Public House Theater productions of A Christmas Story, Charlie Hildebrand in PSU’s opera Street Scene, Jamesin Oregon Children’s Theater’s James and the Giant Peach, an Oompa-Loompa in OCT’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Tiny Tim in the Oregon Symphony’s Yuletide Spectacular. He enjoys singing and dancing and is a member of Pacific Youth Choir. Offstage he can be found reading, listening to music, telling funny stories and watching James Bond movies. Michael is excited to make his debut at Portland Playhouse, and honored to be a part of FAMISHED.

DAMON KUPPER, Richard in the Workshop/Lab

Damon is a member of Third Rail Repertory and has been seen in their productions of Last of the Boys, Dissocia, The Lying Kind, Dead Funny, Nobody Here But Us Chickens, Grace, the Pavilion and Dirty Story. Locally, he has also acted with Artist Repertory Theatre, Portland Center Stage, Profile Theatre and the Well Arts Institute. Beyond Portland, his credits include shows the Texas Shakespeare Festival, the Buffalo Shakespeare Festival and the Pacific Conservatory for the Performing Arts. Damon has also worked as an instructor for various educational theater programs both domestically and abroad, through: Young Musicians and Artist,Oregon Children’s Theatre, Stop-Gap Theatre, Vietnam American Theatre Exchange and many others. Seasonally, Damon also works as tour guide with Portland Walking Tours.

CASEY MCFERON, Jack in the Workshop/Lab

Casey McFeron has studied at Cornish College of the Arts, American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Casey has had guest starring roles on the TV shows “Leverage”, “ER”, “Crossing Jordan”, and “Miracles”, As well as supporting film roles in “The Auteur” and “The Kill Hole”. Casey has performed with Portland Center Stage, Profile Theater, and Portland Playhouse. Casey is the sole founder of Lucky Apple Productions which has produced Neil Labute’s “Fat Pig” at the IFCC, and Neil Labute’s “Reasons to be Pretty” at CoHo Theater, for which took home four Drammy awards, including Actor in a Lead Role.

SHARONLEE MCLEAN, Lane in the Workshop/Lab

ROXANNE STATHOS, Christine in the Workshop/Lab

Roxanne will be a high school junior in the fall. Favorite roles on Portland stages include Patty Ann in Looking For Normal (JANE a theater company), Young Bridget in the Van Morrison inspired rock opera Find Me Beside You (Many Hats Collaboration) for which she won a 2011 PAMTA for Outstanding Young Performer, Helen Keller in The MiracleWorker (Mt. Hood Repertory Theater), Veruca Salt in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (OCT), Rondi in Sideways Stories (OCT),Gretel in the musical Hansel and Gretel (NWCT) as well asplaying Mary Lennox in both the 2007 and 2005 musical productions of The Secret Garden with Staged! Roxanne has also appeared in TV/film/commercial roles as well as been heard in numerous radio voiceovers. When not acting, Roxanne enjoys good music, movies, art and food.

JILL WESTERBY, Diane in the Workshop/Lab

Jill Westerby is so excited to be working at Portland Playhouse on this exquisite new work. Portland credits include Jacques in As You Like It (Portland Shakespeare Project) Loud Stone in Eurydice, Gaia in They Came from Way Out There (Artists Repertory Theatre), Dainty June in Gypsy(Portland Center Stage), Maggie Cutler in The Man Who Came to Dinner, Little Red Ridinghood in Into the Woods (Lakewood Center), Cherie in Bus Stop (Mt. Hood Rep), Little Nun in House of Blue Leaves, Julie in Jakes Women (Profile Theatre) and various roles with Broadway Rose, Live on Stage, and Readers Repertory Theatre. Favorite regional credits include Desdemona in Othello, Ophelia in Hamlet, and Viola in Twelfth Night(Cincinnati Shakespeare Festival), Velma in Chicago and Cassie in A Chorus Line (Capital Playhouse). She holds a BFA in Musical Theatre Performance from Western Michigan University.

JESSICA WALLENFELS, Choreographer, Our Lady of Insatiable Desire

Jessica Wallenfels is a director/choreographer, educator and performer. She most recently choreographed “Love’s Labors Lost” at for the 2011 Oregon Shakespeare Festival season, where she has also choreographed “Romeo and Juliet” and “Dead Man’s Cell Phone.” Other recent credits include directing “Dead Man’s Cell Phone” for Portland Community College-Sylvania and choreographing “Dancing at Lughnasa” for Seattle Repertory Theatre. Wallenfels recently directed/choreographed “Find Me Beside You” and collaborated on “Truth and Beauty” with her company, Many Hats Collaboration. Regional choreography credits include “The 39 Steps,” “Sometimes A Great Notion,” “The Beard of Avon,” “Twelfth Night” (Portland Center Stage); “Gracie and the Atom,” “Distracted” (Artists Repertory Theatre) as well as works at Tanglewood Music Center, Walt Disney Concert Hall, The Old Globe Theater, The Mark Taper Forum, The Actor’s Gang. New York: “Canard, Canard, Goose” (The Civilians), “Speed Hedda” (La Ma Ma e.t.c.), original works at HERE Arts Center, ps 122, WAX, University Settlement, Culture Project, and others. Other original works with Many Hats include “Mutt” and “Rest Room.” Wallenfels has been a teaching artist with Portland Actors Conservatory, California State School of the Arts, Oregon Children’s Theatre, Northwest Children’s Theatre and School, Northwest Academy, West Sylvan Middle School, and others. She is an associate artist with Cornerstone Theater Company holds a BFA from California Institute of the Arts and attended Dell’Arte International.

The FAMISHED workshop/lab is funded by the Regional Arts and Culture Council and developed by Taproot Productions.